IBM drags on Dow; Stocks mostly rise

Stocks closed mostly higher on Wednesday after trading in a narrow range for most of the session. Markets shrugged off mostly disappointing earnings, but results from IBM weighed on the blue chips. The Dow fell 41.10 points, or 0.3%, to 16,373.34, falling for the second day in a row. The Nasdaq was the best performing index, gaining 17.24 points, or 0.4%, to 4,243.00, its highest level since July 17, 2000.